Even with the invention of the printing press, cost remained important, and printers looked for ways to save space without diluting the message. Many abbreviations have become standard, including abbreviations for days of the week Mon. The usual practice in American English is to use a period to end any abbreviation that stands for a single word for example, assoc.
For example, in British writing the word association might be abbreviated as either assoc. Phrases are typically abbreviated by using the first letters or initial portions of each word or each important word, usually without any periods. Similarly, a single long word is sometimes abbreviated with the initial letters of component parts of the word.
Many abbreviations for phrases, however, are pronounced as words: for example, NATO for N orth A tlantic T reaty O rganization or radar for ra dio d etecting a nd r anging.
This type of abbreviation is called an acronym. Some acronyms, like radar, laser, scuba, and Gestapo, have become so accepted as normal words that most people are unaware of their acronymic origins.
In many cases an official name may be chosen purely to create an appropriate and catchy acronym, as in the federal "Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act" of the "CALM Act". In a loose sense, initialism can refer to any abbreviation composed of initials, even if pronounced as a word; conversely, acronym has been widely adopted to refer to any such abbreviation, even if it is pronounced letter by letter.
But the distinction between true acronyms pronounced as words and pure initialisms said letter by letter , is a useful one. With the increasing popularity of email, text messaging, and social media, people—especially young people—have found new ways to save time and space, bond with friends through use of in-group jargon, and keep their communications opaque to prying parental eyes, by using initialisms to represent common expressions.
Words nearby abbreviation Abboud , abbr. Abbreviations and acronyms are shorter versions of existing words and phrases. They're designed to save time and take up less space whether you're typing or writing by hand , and can even make your writing easier to read. Abbreviations are all around us, from common titles like Dr. Specifically, abbreviations are shorter spellings of words and expressions we use every day. An acronym is a stand-in for a string of words, usually an organization name, slogan, or something else equally wordy.
Unlike abbreviations, they aren't shorter spellings of words—they're made up of the words' initials. Abbreviations are usually formed using the most recognizable letters from the word or expression. This makes them easier to remember, and easy for others to read. It's almost like the letters are clues that point to the original word or expression. Some abbreviations look like acronyms for example, mph and NY , but it's really just a coincidence. Technically, these are initialisms , which is a type of abbreviation.
Thankfully, you don't have to know whether something is an abbreviation, initialism, or acronym to use it properly. You just have to know what the term means, and how to spell it—everything else will usually fall into place.
Now that you know how abbreviations are formed, you may be wondering how they're pronounced. Most of the time, they're pronounced the same as the original word —whether you're reading it aloud or in your head. For example, Prof. Snape would be pronounced Professor Snape not Prof Snape. The abbreviation etc. The important thing to remember is that abbreviations aren't words in the true sense—they're more like shorthand. There are some exceptions that are pronounced differently.
For instance, AM , PM , i. This happens when the abbreviation becomes more popular than the original term—usually because the original is too long or outdated. For example, AM stands for Ante Meridiem. That's Latin for before noon. Who knew? Luckily, there aren't many exceptions like this, so you don't have to worry too much about making a mistake. Most abbreviations are pronounced the same as the word they're based on, like hr , min , and sec that's hour , minute , and second.
This is one of the most common questions people have about abbreviations: Do you have to use a period at the end when writing it out?
There's no strict rule that says you do—it's kind of up to you. Sometimes adding a period is expected and can make the abbreviation easier to read. Take the example below. On the other hand, some abbreviations never use a period; for example, state postal abbreviations like NY , CA , and TX. The abbreviation for United States of America can be written with a period between each letter, but it's much more common without.
The same goes for measurement abbreviations like ft , in , and cm. Map Locations If you want to find your way around, you better know location abbreviations such as: Ave. Academic and Job Titles Abbreviations often show up in describing academic and job titles.
Social Media The advent of the internet brought about a whole new range of abbreviations into our daily lives. This act was created in to compensate farmers for not planting crops as a way to increase the demand for certain agricultural products and raise prices.
By , the Supreme Court ruled that the act was to be voided. Single men between were selected to form this corps, which would work on conserving wildlife and national preservation areas, in addition to planting trees and fighting erosion.
Four million people were employed by the CWA to work in renovation and construction jobs such as building repair, road building, and other infrastructural work. This organization was created to help people secure loans to buy houses. In , the NRA was created to attempt to aid deflation and encourage market competition, in order to restore the economy. Unfortunately, the administration did not stimulate industrial production, although investor and consumer confidence were restored. The Social Security Act, administered by the Social Security Administration, created a national pension for retired people as well as unemployment insurance and government aid for single mothers, children, and handicapped persons.
Understanding Latin-based Abbreviations Looking at Latin , the root of much of the English language is a good way to decipher abbreviations.
For instance: e.
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